Galt's Gulch
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I'm having a moral crisis

Posted by LennoxStudios 5 years, 7 months ago to Ask the Gulch
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I am having a crisis of sorts. I can't be certain of how this will turn people's opinion of me, but if answers come at the expense of reputation so be it. Everywhere I read, everywhere I look, every person I look up to, says Objectivism is greedy, that its wrong, that its an extreme, that the only people who use objectivism is the people who abuse its philosophies as a means of breaking another man's back. And this stress is killing me, this tear. Maybe it makes me not a true woman of reason, I don't care at this point. If it means my hair stops falling out (hyperbole), its worth it. I cannot take this guilt

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  • Posted by upston 5 years, 7 months ago
    Greed is a pejorative as used by the statist, a more accurate concept is " Enlightened self interest"
    the enlightened part is important.
    The other concept that separate us from the mob and other animals is '' Voluntary exchange"
    These two concepts are the building blocks of the civil society.
    And for your sake stop the pity party and get some real friends.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 5 years, 7 months ago
    Do they have problems with particular actions you take or just your being into Objectivism? If it's particular actions, e.g. lending them your car, donating to some fundraising drive, etc, you can discuss that particular issue. If they're truly giving you grief about your not doing what they want, you probably won't change them and don't need to be around them. If it's just an issue of their not liking Objectivism, you can just avoid the issue. My suggestion sounds glib because if they philosophically wanted use force on others and make them abandon their dreams, it would show up in their actions eventually. But I doubt that's the case. They probably don't even understand the very basics of Objectivism. They could be as loath to receive alms or manipulate someone as you are. I would just not talk about it with them. More is caught than taught. You don't have to convince them of every idea you have, and they shouldn't have to convince you of everything they think.
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    • Posted by LennoxStudios 5 years, 7 months ago
      I have a friend who's pissed off at me, but thats a longgggg story. I imagine discussing it further would put a rift in our friendsdhip larger than the current one
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      • Posted by skidance 5 years, 7 months ago
        What is the basis of that friendship? Time? Familiarity? Habit? Loneliness? Unless there are shared interests and values, as well as mutual respect, no friendship is involved.
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      • Posted by CircuitGuy 5 years, 7 months ago
        I'm sorry to hear that.
        It makes me think of this Emerson quote from Self-Reliance
        "On my saying, What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within? my friend suggested, — "But these impulses may be from below, not from above." I replied, "They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil's child, I will live then from the Devil.

        Or as Captain Picard said in the pilot episode of Star Trek: TNG: If we're going to be damned, let's be damned for what we really are.

        I think it's better to have "crucial conversation" (that's the weird modern phrase for it) and find out the truth than to avoid it and sweep it under the rug. It's very hard to do. I'm actually very bad at it. I read about it b/c I'd like to get better.
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